“Our one act of defiance.” Karla pushed the open tub to the middle of the table and skimmed a layer off the top. “Most of the women wanted nothing to do with us. They wanted to forget, bury it and never look back. I knew I was taking a risk trying to get us organized, but I couldn’t help but think there was some sort of safety in numbers.”
“Smart thinking,” Ariel said.
“I hope so. If this goes south, it’s all on me. I convinced them to put themselves out there and relive this nightmare.” Karla shook her head.
“You guys deserve real peace, and we both know that can’t happen with Linden and Emmit out there lurking on the wings of society, wreaking the same kind of horror on unsuspecting women everywhere,” Ariel said.
“That’s what I keep telling myself,” Karla said. “If Peter could come back for Juliette after all that time, none of us are safe.”
“Exactly. None of this is your fault. It’s all them. Sick fucks,” Ariel snarled.
Karla took a few more spoonfuls of ice-cream. “The most frightening thing is the guises they hide behind, powerful, attractive men who have their pick of women. Those unsuspecting females have no clue what monsters they’re courting. Money shouldn’t allow you to get away with murder, and I say that literally. I know there are times when they went too far.”
“Karla?” Ariel tensed. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
“I heard him, them…talking.” The blood drained from her face.
“Heard who, Karla?”
“Peter and Quinn…he-he said they’d gone too far, and the girl had died, that they needed to call in someone to clean up the mess. God it was like something out of a mob hit. I knew then I couldn’t stay.” Karla trembled. “I started making plans that night to make Emmit move on. I knew what he liked, and what he didn’t. I risked his wrath and took some of the worst beatings I ever had at his hand, but in the end it worked. A month later he declared himself through with me, and I scurried away into obscurity. I left behind everything, clothing, furniture, jewelry, and dropped out of my college courses. I told them I had a family emergency and wouldn’t be able to finish out the year. All that mattered was going off the map. All the work I did for the next year was under the table.” She shook her head. “I alienated myself from my family and friends. That’s when I came up with the idea of contacting others.”
“Oh my God, Karla!” Ariel covered her mouth. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried to forget about it, pretend it didn’t happen. But there’s too much at stake now.”
“You poor thing. Did you hear a name or any information that would tie them to the crime?”
“No, but I didn’t dig around either. I wanted nothing to do with that. I’d wager if someone started digging, they’d find a girl from campus disappeared around that time.” Karla pushed a spoonful of ice cream around in the carton.
“I don’t blame you. Jesus.” Ariel shook her head. “You know I have to tell Mayhem, right?”
“Yeah, I know. I wanted to get this out there. Whoever their victim was, she deserved better than to become a nameless, faceless, body, never to be found because a group of assholes think they’re above the law.”
“You’re doing the right thing. I’ll get Specs and Gadget on it and see what they can unearth. Just when I think I can’t hate them more, a new reason pops up and proves me wrong.” Ariel stabbed her spoon into the softened sweet.
Karla shuddered. “That’s one thing they’re good for.”
“Probably the only thing,” Ariel murmured around her spoon.
“For a long time they made me hate all men,” Karla admitted.
“And now?” Ariel said, holding her breath. Karla had always remained a little standoffish and slightly cold. This was the first time she’d truly opened up. Before her recollections had seemed rote. Like someone reporting on another person’s life.
“I realize if I live the rest of my life afraid, Quinn wins.” Karla took a deep breath. “I refuse to let that happen. Do men still make me jittery? Yes, but I know there’s something very wrong with Quinn and his friends. Not everyone is like that. I don’t know when I’ll be ready to try having a relation again. I only know it will happen. Perhaps after I’ve put the past firmly behind me.”
Her words made Ariel feel small and stupid. Here this woman who’d been abused and terrorized had the ability to hope for more. How dare I turn away because my parents’ love story wasn’t picture perfect?
“You look pensive,” Karla said.
“Recently I had my belief in love shaken, but hearing you speak so optimistically about it, makes me feel like a pussy.”
Karla snickered. “Why? Everyone’s story is different, and pain is pain. It comes in many shapes, sizes, and disguises, breaks us down so far we question if we ever knew who we truly were and steals our joy. The only thing we can do is be braver than the fear. It took me forever to figure that out.” Karla shook her head. “It’s okay to hurt, but it’s not okay to become crippled by ache. The very fact we’re still here means we’re fighters. We have the advantage. Once you wrap your mind around that…it gets better.”
Ariel digested the information and nodded. The minute she’d accepted her lack of responsibility in the divorce, her anxiety had dropped tenfold. Her parents’ fate didn’t have to be hers.
“Thank you. That makes sense and makes me feel better. Though I was supposed to be the one helping you cheer up.”
Karla laughed. “You have just by being here.” Ariel smiled. “Is this about your old man?”